The University of Rhode Island athletic department has gained a new fan. Paul Pabst, the executive producer of NBC Sports’s “The Dan Patrick Show,” has taken a liking to the Rhode Island Rams.
Pabst, better know as Pauly on “The Dan Patrick Show,” has not only served as the executive producer for the past 12 years but also contributes to conversations and serves as an on air talent. Pabst said that he likes to think he is Patrick’s air traffic control man. “If I do my job great then he looks and sounds great on air,” Pabst said. “That’s the goal of the show.”
The Dan Patrick Show currently is filmed out of Milford, Connecticut, and Pabst now calls Fairfield, Connecticut home.
The connection between Rhode Island and Pabst all starts with a wrong turn. Pabst said a friend of his owns a house in nearby Wakefield, Rhode Island. “Every year I go his house,” Pabst said. “He has a festival every summer and one day I made a wrong turn and ended up in Snug Harbor. I thought, ‘this is awesome, this is a fantastic area.’”
The area’s seafood and the authenticity of the state of Rhode Island was what Pabst had fallen in love with. “I love the real feel that Rhode Island has opposed to the Hamptons and all these places that are glitz and not substance,” Pabst said. “I fell for the Snug Harbor and Wakefield area.”
Pabst could envision himself living in Rhode Island’s coastal community the second he had found it. Three months ago he took a step in that direction by buying a house in the area that he currently rents to URI students in the winter and fall. “Down the road I would like to retire here,” Pabst said.
Pabst has always seemed to have sports right in his backyard. Growing up in the southside of Chicago, he has always found himself rooting for the home team. He cheered for the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bears, and the University of Notre Dame as a child. The convenience of having the University of Rhode Island so close to where he wants to retire drew Pabst to cheering for the local school. “Wherever I am I like to support my local college,” he said. “The smaller the school, the better.”
Pabst is a graduate of Southern Illinois University and currently serves as a part-time sports media/journalism professor at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Both schools of which fall into the same category as URI: a mid-major whose sports teams provide the ideal sports environment for Pabst. “It’s a better game day experience to me,” he said. “You can pull in and park and don’t have to spend $300 to take your family to a football game. I think the smaller colleges are so much more family friendly.”
Pabst showed up to Saturday’s Rhode Island football game against Stony Brook with a URI hat on despite it being his first URI event. He guarantees that it will not be his last.
When it comes to his future, Pabst can see his connection with URI growing even more. He hopes one day to teach at the university. “I would love to teach sports media and journalism at Rhode Island someday,” Pabst said. “It has a great campus, and I know they have a great communications school already and I would love to help out.”
The University of Rhode Island athletic department has gained a new fan. Paul Pabst, the executive producer of NBC Sports’s “The Dan Patrick Show,” has taken a liking to the Rhode Island Rams.
Pabst, better know as Pauly on “The Dan Patrick Show,” has not only served as the executive producer for the past 12 years but also contributes to conversations and serves as an on air talent. Pabst said that he likes to think he is Patrick’s air traffic control man. “If I do my job great then he looks and sounds great on air,” Pabst said. “That’s the goal of the show.”
The Dan Patrick Show currently is filmed out of Milford, Connecticut, and Pabst now calls Fairfield, Connecticut home.
The connection between Rhode Island and Pabst all starts with a wrong turn. Pabst said a friend of his owns a house in nearby Wakefield, Rhode Island. “Every year I go his house,” Pabst said. “He has a festival every summer and one day I made a wrong turn and ended up in Snug Harbor. I thought, ‘this is awesome, this is a fantastic area.’”
The area’s seafood and the authenticity of the state of Rhode Island was what Pabst had fallen in love with. “I love the real feel that Rhode Island has opposed to the Hamptons and all these places that are glitz and not substance,” Pabst said. “I fell for the Snug Harbor and Wakefield area.”
Pabst could envision himself living in Rhode Island’s coastal community the second he had found it. Three months ago he took a step in that direction by buying a house in the area that he currently rents to URI students in the winter and fall. “Down the road I would like to retire here,” Pabst said.
Pabst has always seemed to have sports right in his backyard. Growing up in the southside of Chicago, he has always found himself rooting for the home team. He cheered for the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bears, and the University of Notre Dame as a child. The convenience of having the University of Rhode Island so close to where he wants to retire drew Pabst to cheering for the local school. “Wherever I am I like to support my local college,” he said. “The smaller the school, the better.”
Pabst is a graduate of Southern Illinois University and currently serves as a part-time sports media/journalism professor at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Both schools of which fall into the same category as URI: a mid-major whose sports teams provide the ideal sports environment for Pabst. “It’s a better game day experience to me,” he said. “You can pull in and park and don’t have to spend $300 to take your family to a football game. I think the smaller colleges are so much more family friendly.”
Pabst showed up to Saturday’s Rhode Island football game against Stony Brook with a URI hat on despite it being his first URI event. He guarantees that it will not be his last.
When it comes to his future, Pabst can see his connection with URI growing even more. He hopes one day to teach at the university. “I would love to teach sports media and journalism at Rhode Island someday,” Pabst said. “It has a great campus, and I know they have a great communications school already and I would love to help out.”